Wobbly, Sunlike Star Being Pulled by Giant Alien Planet

By analyzing sonic vibrations in a distant sunlike star, astronomers might have calculated exactly how fast the star spins and how much a nearby giant alien planet weighs.

Stars, including the sun, experience sound waves that zip around inside them and cause tiny rhythmic fluctuations in their brightness. By studying these variations, scientists can better understand the interiors of stars? an emerging scientific field known as asteroseismology that is akin to seismology on Earth, which helps geologists yield insights into the innards of this planet.

Scientists used the COROT satellite to analyze the sunlike star HD 52265, located more than 90 light-years from Earth in the constellation Monoceros, the Unicorn. The star, which has a mass about 1.2 times that of the sun and a diameter 1.3 times greater than the sun's, is about 2.1 billion to 2.7 billion years old. [The Strangest?Alien Planets?(Gallery)]

Repeated wobbles in the movements of HD 52265 suggested a giant planet's gravitational pull was tugging on it, which astronomers dubbed HD 52265b. The magnitude of the wobbles suggested the planet had a mass at least 1.09 times that of Jupiter ? scientists could not give a more precise figure based on the wobbles alone.

The oscillations in brightness that the researchers investigated are linked to ripples in that star that are, in turn, based in part on its rate of rotation. The scientists calculated HD 52265's interior completes a revolution every 12 days, meaning it revolves some 2.3 times faster than the sun.

"Knowing the rotation of stars is important to understand stellar activity cycles," said Laurent Gizon, an astrophysicist at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany and the study's lead author. "Magnetic fields in stars like the sun are maintained by rotation and convection."

Discovering the manner in which the star HD 52265 rotates also provides clues about how the planet HD 52265b is oriented toward it, assuming the star's equator is lined up with the planet's, as is typically the case in Earth's solar system. When these data are combined with the information about the magnitude of the wobbles the planet exerts on its star, the mass of world is about 1.85 times the mass of Jupiter, the researchers calculated.

"Asteroseismology is a very powerful technique to fully characterize exoplanets," Gizon said.

In the future, the European Space Agency's PLATO mission could use asteroseismology to analyze a multitude of stars and planets.

"The decision on the selection of the mission is expected at the beginning of 2014," Gizon said.

The scientists detailed their findings online July 29 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy.

Follow us?@Spacedotcom,?Facebook?and?Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.

Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wobbly-sunlike-star-being-pulled-giant-alien-planet-215403009.html

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Announcer-Free TV? Detroit's Baseball Fans Say Yes, Please

Baseball fans often declare their love of the game's rhythm, its quiet pauses and bursts of action. For such people, watching a game on TV can be a struggle, particularly if they're annoyed by the chatter of announcers. Fans in Detroit had another option last night: watching a TV broadcast that included only the natural sounds of the ballpark.

On its "Plus" channel, Fox Sports Detroit offered fans a feed of Tuesday night's game pitting the Tigers against the Washington Nationals, titled "Natural Sounds at Comerica Park." The program's only voices came from the field and the stands.

The broadcast was enhanced by "extra microphones around the park so viewers can hear more of the sounds of baseball ? the bat cracks, ball popping in the mitt, vendors chiming in from the stands and the crowd's reaction to every play on the field," said Fox Sports Detroit's general manager, Greg Hammaren.

As the Awful Announcing site notes, the move was a hit with many viewers, who took to Twitter to call the broadcast "awesome." Others said, "Wish it was like this every game."

The experiment by Fox Sports Detroit follows in the footsteps of the famous NBC broadcast from 1980, when an NFL game between the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins was aired without announcers providing play-by-play commentary or analysis.

And as large and complex events such as the Olympics and soccer's World Cup broaden their online offerings, fans can often find live streaming video of competitions that include only the ambient sounds of the arena.

Fox Sports Detroit will have another announcer-free game at the end of August. But Awful Announcing's Matt Yoder says fans shouldn't expect to see such games on a regular basis.

"There's a reason the play-by-play man has had a job for decades ? game broadcasts usually need a narrative and layer of context to what's happening on the field," Yoder writes. "More importantly, we'd be out of a job."

Still, he adds, "one also wonders if Fox would ever look into the 'natural sounds' feed for the World Series given the, ahem, 'popularity' of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver with many baseball fans."

Source: http://nhpr.org/post/announcer-free-tv-detroits-baseball-fans-say-yes-please

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Probe may cause issues for more than DHS official

WASHINGTON (AP) ? An internal investigation of President Barack Obama's choice to be the No. 2 official at the Homeland Security Department has the potential to become a political headache for former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia.

The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Alejandro Mayorkas, has been named a target in an investigation for his role in helping a company run by Clinton's brother to secure an international investor visa. Congressional officials briefed on the investigation said the visa was for a Chinese executive. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly release details of the inquiry.

The DHS Inspector General's Office outlined the investigation in an email to lawmakers earlier this week. In that email, the IG's office said, "At this point in our investigation, we do not have any findings of criminal misconduct."

According to the IG's email to lawmakers, the primary complaint against Mayorkas was that he helped a financing company run by Anthony Rodham win approval for an investor visa, even after the application was denied and an appeal was rejected.

The investigation does not appear to have any direct ties to Clinton's tenure as secretary of state. Nonetheless, any hint of scandal or even the most tangential connection to Clinton is likely to become fodder for Republican super PACs, which have sought to discredit her record while she maintains a lower profile with private speeches and work on a new book.

The former first lady and New York Democratic senator has not said whether she will run for president in 2016. But Republicans have made it clear that until Clinton does make a decision, every moment of her tenure in government will be scrutinized.

Across the Potomac River in Virginia, the inspector general's investigation already has become a weapon for Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli in his race against Democrat Terry McAuliffe.

McAuliffe is former chairman of GreenTech Automotive, a manufacturer of energy-efficient cars that received funding from Rodham's Gulf Coast Funds Management. The firm is one of hundreds of government-approved "regional centers" that pool investments from foreign nationals looking to invest in U.S. businesses or industries as part of the EB-5 visa program for foreign investors.

GreenTech was not mentioned in the inspector general's email to lawmakers. In a statement late Tuesday, the company said it was not aware of the investigation prior to the report Tuesday by The Associated Press and that the company had not been contacted by the inspector general's office.

Cuccinelli, Virginia's attorney general, has previously criticized McAuliffe for putting GreenTech's new electric-car plant in a Mississippi suburb of Memphis instead of Virginia when the Democrat served as chairman of the company. McAuliffe quietly left his role as the company's chairman after declaring his bid for governor in November 2012.

In a statement Tuesday, Cucinnelli said McAuliffe should answer questions about the EB-5 probe and his role at GreenTech.

Josh Schwerin, a McAuliffe spokesman, said the investigation does not involve McAuliffe "and we hope that it is completed in a timely matter."

In an emailed statement Tuesday, Gulf Coast Funds Management's general counsel, D. Simone Williams, said the company had not been aware of the investigation and was not aware of an investor visa application being denied.

Beyond those on a ballot or thinking of running for office, the existence of the inspector general's investigation is almost certain to impact Mayorkas' nomination for deputy Homeland Security secretary.

Were he to be confirmed, Mayorkas likely would at least temporarily lead the department until a permanent replacement is found for Secretary Janet Napolitano, who is set to leave in September and become president of the University of California system.

USCIS and DHS did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The White House referred questions to the IG's office, which said the investigation was in an early stage.

Mayorkas is scheduled to appear Thursday before the Senate Homeland Security Committee for a hearing on his nomination, but the top Republican on the panel is calling for the nomination to be put on hold until the IG's investigation is completed.

A Democratic committee staff member said the committee's chairman, Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Dela., was aware of the investigation and was looking into the case. Thursday's hearing remained on the committee's schedule.

___

Associated Press writers Bob Lewis in Richmond, Va., and Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Alicia A. Caldwell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acaldwellap

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/probe-may-cause-issues-more-dhs-official-085018584.html

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Acid Test: Rising CO2 Levels Killing Ocean Life (Op-Ed)

Matt Huelsenbeck is a marine scientist for the climate and energy campaign at Oceana. This article was adapted from one that first appeared on The Beacon. Huelsenbeck contributed this article to LiveScience?s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

The ocean absorbs approximately one-third of all human-caused carbon dioxide emissions at a rate of 300 tons per second, which helps slow global climate change. But, due to that carbon dioxide absorption, the ocean is now 30 percent more acidic than before the Industrial Revolution, and the rate of change in ocean pH, called ocean acidification, is likely unparalleled in Earth?s history.?

With today?s levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide so high, the ocean?s help comes at a cost to marine life and the millions of people who depend on?healthy oceans .

For the first time in human history, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have risen above 400 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide at the historic Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. This observatory is where Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher Charles David Keeling created the ?Keeling Curve,? a famous graph showing that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have been increasing rapidly in the atmosphere for decades.

Carbon dioxide levels were around 280 ppm before the Industrial Revolution, when humans began releasing large amounts of the gas into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. On May 9, 2013, the reading was an alarming 400.08 ppm for a 24-hour period. This number would be even higher, however, if it were not for the help of the oceans. [Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Breaks 3-Million-Year Record]

Scientists already see ocean acidification harming marine animals like oysters, mussels and clams as well as coral reefs and floating marine snails called pteropods, dubbed the ?potato chips of the sea? because of their significance to marine food webs. In the last decade, ocean acidification killed many oyster larvae at the Whisky Creek oyster hatchery in Oregon, shrunk the shells of pteropods in the Southern Ocean and slowed coral growth on Australia?s Great Barrier Reef.

Society?s use of fossil fuels is putting the world?s marine life through a high-risk chemistry experiment with no fail-safes in place and no way to turn back. Earlier in Earth?s history, changes in ocean conditions that were much slower than today still managed to wipe out 95 percent of?marine species . If emissions continue at current rates, our planet is risking a similar mass extinction event, one that could begin within our lifetimes.

These impacts will ripple up to threaten people as well, who are at the top of the ocean food web. In September 2012, an Oceana report entitled ?Ocean-Based Food Security Threatened in a High CO₂ World? ranked nations based on their vulnerability to reductions in seafood production due to climate change and ocean acidification. Many island nations rely on seafood as one of their main food sources, since it is the cheapest and most readily available source of protein. Threats to seafood especially threaten small-scale fishermen, who simply aren?t capable of following fish into distant waters.

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is the only way to confront global ocean acidification and the primary means to stop climate change. Oceana is currently working to limit pollution emissions that threaten the ocean by halting the expansion of offshore drilling and supporting clean energy solutions like offshore wind. In the Atlantic Ocean, oil companies are trying to take their first step toward drilling for offshore oil and gas with seismic airgun surveys that would injure?dolphins and whales ?with loud blasts. The more oil they find and the more drilling that occurs, the worse climate change becomes.?

The current rate of change in ocean conditions is simply too high for many marine animals to adapt, but to avoid further harm, society needs to create an even faster rate of change in energy supply options. If not, our planet risks losing the diversity and abundance of ocean life that we all depend on.?

Huelsenbeck?s most recent Op-Ed is: Offshore Wind Energy: The Coming Sea Change? This article first appeared as What Do Historic CO2 Levels Mean for the Oceans? on the Oceana blog The Beacon. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This article was originally published on?LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/acid-test-rising-co2-levels-killing-ocean-life-213708759.html

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Putin aims to keep ties with U.S. on track in Snowden case

CHITA, Russia (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin signaled on Wednesday that he would not let former U.S. spy contractor Edward Snowden's application for temporary asylum in Russia derail relations with the United States.

Snowden, who is wanted by the United States for revealing details of U.S. government intelligence programs, has been in the transit area of a Moscow airport since June 23 and wants to be able to stay in Russia until he can find sanctuary elsewhere.

Asked whether the affair would cast a shadow over a U.S.-Russia summit due in September in Moscow, Putin told reporters: "Bilateral relations, in my opinion, are far more important than squabbles about the activities of the secret services."

Putin, visiting the Siberian town of Chita, did not say whether he expected Russia to grant temporary asylum to Snowden, but reiterated that Moscow had told the American he must stop any activities that might harm the United States.

Snowden, 30, says the United States has prevented him from flying to Latin America, where Nicaragua, Bolivia and Venezuela have offered to give him refuge, by putting pressure on other countries not to help him escape U.S. justice.

(Reporting by Denis Dyomkin, Writing by Timothy Heritage, Editing by Elizabeth Piper)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stranded-fugitive-snowden-seeks-temporary-asylum-russia-042112253.html

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Five things to know about Greg Abbott (Washington Post)

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Uh Oh: Forum Communications Confirms Missing Emails From ...

The timing of the deletion of emails from NDSU President Dean Bresciani?s inbox has always been interesting. It appears as though the mass-deletion of tens of thousands of emails took place between the time when an open records request from Forum Communicatinos was fulfilled and when an open records request from Legislative Council was received.

The folks at Forum Communications have gone back and compared the results of their open records request with the one from Legislative Council and found inconsistencies involving dozens of emails:

The newspaper compared the results of its own open records request for Bresciani?s emails, made in March, with those that the North Dakota Legislative Council received after a similar request in April and found that 53 emails were missing from the results of the council?s request.

Nearly all of the emails in the Legislative Council?s request were sent by Bresciani, with few incoming emails that would sit in an inbox, suggesting that at least part of the president?s inbox was deleted sometime after The Forum?s open records request was fulfilled in late April.

The missing emails, mostly innocuous replies to Bresciani from fellow school employees, are just a fraction of the 45,375 emails that were allegedly deleted from Bresciani?s account sometime in the two weeks leading up to the Legislative Council?s request for the president?s emails ? a possible violation of the state?s open records law. The emails are now at the heart of a probe by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem?s office.

This in and of itself may not be all that shocking a revelation. A few dozen innocuous emails probably aren?t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But what it absolutely shows is that emails were disappearing.

And, despite previous claims from university system officials that they couldn?t verify if emails had been deleted or not, they are now acknowledging that fact. ?After being asked about the 53 missing emails identified by the Forum, NDSU and North Dakota University System officials confirmed Friday that ?a large number of emails? have been deleted,? reports Kyle Potter. ?Bresciani and other university staff initially said they couldn?t verify whether any emails had been deleted from Bresciani?s account.?

Also, Bresciani?s claim that his system was ?compromised? has been shot down:

[Bresciani] also suggested his account may have been compromised by university system staff in a ?personally directed and malicious? effort against him. But Wallman and Feldner said in the statement that the only outsiders who accessed the president?s account were fulfilling open records requests.

Days ago I had filed an open records request with NDUS spokeswoman Linda Donlin asking for the log information showing the deletion of the files. After initially acknowledging my request I?ve gotten no further communications for Donlin (who is part of the staff upheaval going on, it seems) but a university system source has given me a screen shot of the log showing the deletion of emails:

We can now dismiss a lot of the spin and self-serving explanations coming from President Bresciani?s office and other sources and focus on some facts:

• The emails were absolutely deleted from Bresciani?s inbox.
• Bresciani?s inbox was not ?compromised? by anyone from the university system office, despite his wild allegations.
• NDSU did not fully complete the legislature?s request for emails given the discrepancies between the Forum Communications request and the Legislative Council request.

The questions that need to be answered is who deleted the emails, and were they deleted inadvertently or as an conscious effort to avoid an open records request? The latter, remember, is potentially a felony.

Word I?m getting from university system sources is that there were thousands of emails now-discovered that weren?t turned over to the legislature. That, if true, is damning.

Source: http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/uh-oh-forum-communications-confirms-missing-emails-from-brescianis-inbox/

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